Wayoró language

Wayoró (also Wayoro, Ajurú, Wajuru; Wayoró: wayoro emẽto [βajoˈɾo ɛmɛ̃ˈto]) is a moribund Tuparian language (Tupian family), which is spoken in the state of Rondônia, in the Amazon region of Brazil. As of 2019, there were reported to be 3 speakers (all above 70 years old) and 11 semispeakers out of the ethnic population of approximately 250.[1]:3

Wayoró
Wayoro, Ajurú, Wajuru
wayoro emẽto
Pronunciation[βajoˈɾo ɛmɛ̃ˈto]
RegionRondônia (Brazil)
EthnicityWajuru (ethnic population ~250, FUNASA/SESAI 2016)[1]:3
Native speakers
3 (+ 11 semispeakers) (2019)[1]:3
Dialects
  • Ngwayoroiat (Wayoroiat)
  • Kupndiiriat
Language codes
ISO 639-3wyr
Glottologwayo1238
ELPWayoró[2]

Dialects

The Wajuru people is subdivided into three subgroups: the Ngwayoroiat (‘those from the Stone’), the Ngwãkũyãian (‘the Agouti ones’), and the Kupndiiriat (‘the Forest ones’). Some lexical and phonological differences have been reported between the varieties spoken by the Ngwayoroiat (Wayoroiat) and by the Kupndiiriat.

Phonology

Consonants

The consonantal inventory of Wayoró is as follows.[1]:8 The graphemes which correspond to each phoneme are given in chevrons.

labialalveolarpostalveolar/palatalvelarlabiovelar
voiceless obstruents p ‹p›t ‹t›tʃ ‹tx›k ‹k›kʷ ‹kw›
nasals m ‹m, mb›n ‹n, nd›ɲ ‹y, dj›ŋ ‹ng, g›ŋʷ ‹ngw, gw›
oral sonorants β ‹w›ɾ ‹r›

Underlying nasal consonants may be partially or fully oralized in oral environments. Nogueira (2019) describes the following allophones:

  • /m/ → [m] ‹m›, [mb] ‹mb›
  • /n/ → [n] ‹n›, [nd] ‹nd›
  • /ɲ/ → [ɲ, j, j̃, jt] ‹y›, [ndʒ, dʒ] ‹dj›
  • /ŋ/ → [ŋ, ŋg] ‹ng›, [g] ‹g›
  • /ŋʷ/ → [ŋʷ, ŋgʷ] ‹ngw›, [gʷ] ‹gw›

The phonological status of the glottal stop [ʔ], which occurs in the onset position only (e.g. o’uwa [oʔʉβa] ‘my pot’, o’ega [oʔɛga] ‘my hiccup’, apa’a [apaʔa] ‘to weave a hammock horizontally’), is given as uncertain by Nogueira (2019).[1]:11

Vowels

The vowel inventory of Wayoró is as follows.[1]:9

front unroundedcentral roundedcentral unroundedback rounded
high i iː ĩ ĩː ‹i ii ĩ ĩi›ʉ ʉː ʉ̃ ʉ̃ː ‹u uu ũ ũu›
high-mid o oː õ õː ‹o oo õ õo›
open-mid ɛ ɛː ɛ̃ ɛ̃ː ‹e ee ẽ ẽe›
low a aː ã ãː ‹a aa ã ãa›

Syntax

As in other Tuparian languages, the main clauses of Wayoró follow the cross-linguistically rare nominative–absolutive pattern. Person prefixes on the verb are absolutive, i.e., they index the sole argument of an intransitive verb (S) and the patient argument ('direct object') of a transitive verb (P). Person pronouns, which follow the verb (either cliticizing to it or not) are nominative: they may encode the sole argument of an intransitive verb (S) or the agent argument of a transitive verb (A), but not the patient of a transitive verb (P). This is exemplified below.[3]:99

 Eamõjãn (en).
 s-V			(S)
 /e-amõc-a-t		(ẽt)/
 2-dance-TH-NFUT	(2.NOM)
 ‘You danced.’
 Etopkwap nã on.
 p-V			A
 /e-top-kʷ-a-p	nã	õt/
 2-see-PL-TH-p	FUT	1.NOM
 ‘I’ll see you every day.’

References
  1. Nogueira, Antônia Fernanda de Souza (2019). Predicação na língua Wayoro (Tupi): propriedades de finitude (PDF) (Thesis). São Paulo: Universidade de São Paulo.
  2. Endangered Languages Project data for Wayoró.
  3. Galucio, Ana Vilacy; de Souza Nogueira, Antônia Fernanda (20 July 2018). "From object nominalization to object focus: The innovative A-alignment in the Tuparian languages (Tupian family)". Journal of Historical Linguistics. 8 (1): 95–127. doi:10.1075/jhl.16025.gal.
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